Manchester United boss Michael Carrick pulled no punches when asked whether he would be walking away from his role after the dramatic 4-4 draw with Aston Villa.
Rollercoaster
United pulled off a dramatic late comeback to salvage a point against Aston Villa, even as their dreadful run this season continues.
The Red Devils conceded two goals within the opening four minutes. Alysson netted in the first minute, firing a shot that squirmed under Senne Lammens. Nicolas Jackson then slotted in the second, moments later, after Lammens had parried the ball into his path.
Bruno Fernandes pulled one back for the hosts in the 16th minute when he converted a penalty that was won by Matheus Cunha.
United drew level just before the break through Youri Tielemans, who stormed into the box to meet Noussair Mazraoui’s cutback.
After the break, Diogo Dalot put United on the back foot yet again when his reckless challenge on Alysson resulted in a penalty, which John McGinn duly finished. Leon Goretzka poked in Villa’s fourth from close range after Leny Yoro headed against his own crossbar.
It was not over for United. Substitute Joshua Zirkzee struck in stoppage time to tee up a ferocious finale, and Patrick Dorgu made it 4-4 with a stunning equaliser in the dying seconds, capitalising on a weak clearance from Zion Suzuki.
Carrick spoke to Sky Sports after the final whistle and had a spiky exchange with reporter Patrick Davison.
Defiant Carrick
With United in the relegation zone and struggling, Davison asked Carrick whether he was going to walk away. An unimpressed Carrick answered, “That’s not going to happen!”
Unbowed, Davison shot back, “Okay. What do you expect to happen? A club this big, in this situation, clearly there’s going to be conversations. You’re a football man, you know that better than me.”
Carrick bluntly replied, “Is there?”
Davison added, “You would assume so, right?”
Carrick said, “Would you?”
Davison asked again, “What do you think Michael?”
The back and forth between the pair continued, with Carrick remarking, “Well you’re telling me what you think..”
The United boss continued, “We’re in a situation where we haven’t won enough games. But I expect to move forward and keep working on the things we’ve been working on and showing a lot of the good in the game today.”
“Tighten up on a few mistakes and win football matches.”
"That’s not going to happen" 🗣️
Michael Carrick responds to the notion that he could resign as Manchester United head coach đź”´ https://t.co/q1fBKSXL7l
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) November 8, 2026
Carrick also told BBC Match of the Day, “Making it hard for ourselves. Again, I thought a lot of the performances were very good. We made it challenging for ourselves. Mistakes that the boss knows shouldn’t happen.”
“We built our way back into the game and played well, we probably should score more than we did today. The goals are coming from individual mistakes. We need to tighten up.”
“I thought we were the better team. We played some very good football and got back into the game. Two goals again put us on the back foot. In the end, we could have even won it.”
Asked what he was thinking at the end, he replied, “If we get one, then anything can happen. We never gave up and never stopped believing.”
He said about Dorgu, “It’s good to have him and we’ve been careful with how we use him. He came on and made a difference.”
“We need to improve the position we’re in, of course, we do. If we tighten up, there are a lot of things we can take forward from the last three games for sure.”
United are next in action at Liverpool on November 22.
Featured image by Carl Recine via Getty Images
